US deal of the century stumbling, changing course: Palestinian official

June 16, 2019

93 2 minutes read

Palestinian Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for “peace” between the Israeli regime and Palestinians, dubbed “the deal of the century,” stressing that the plan is “stumbling and changing its course.”

“The American conspiracy has stumbled and is changing course. It is due to the Palestinian rejection (of the deal) and the clear position of the president (Mahmoud Abbas) vis-à-vis al-Quds, refugees and the national constants. These issues form the cornerstone of the struggle that forced the conspiracy against the Palestinian people to falter. The Palestinian land is the cradle of history, heritage and religion. Al-Quds represents the spirit of this sacred existence,” he said in a statement released on Saturday.

Abu Rudeineh went on to say that the so-called deal of the century has been scaled down to a workshop, making reference to the forthcoming US-led conference in Bahrain scheduled for June 25-26.

“The true goal of the economic project is to circumvent the political negotiations that are based on the international legality. The bid will definitely hit a snag. The US administration and the international community should not try initiatives that have been tested over the past 70 years, and have failed to yield intended results,” he pointed out.

Earlier this month, Abbas said the US-proposed deal of the century will eventually “go to hell.”

“I hope that the next Eid al-Fitr would come while the Palestinian people liberate their country from the Israeli occupation, establish their independent state, with East al-Quds as its capital, and overcome the plots contrived against the Palestinian issue, including the Deal of the Century, which will all go to hell,” Abbas stated on June 5.

He made the remarks a day after chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called upon Arabs to boycott the so-called deal of the century, describing his three-man team tasked with formulating the plan as “settlers.”

“Once again, I call on our Arab brothers not to talk to this group of settlers, [Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared] Kushner, [US Middle East envoy Jason] Greenblatt, and [US ambassador to the occupied territories David] Friedman,” said Erekat, who is also the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Leader of Hamas resistance movement in the Gaza Strip also stated on June 3 that the US-touted Middle East peace deal is “doomed to failure.”

“On behalf of [Gaza] clans, dignitaries and elders, we declare our outright rejection of the deal of the century, and all conspiracies and forms of normalization with the Occupation and we declare a state of national alert to confront it,” Yahya Sinwar said.

“The deal of the century is doomed to failure in one way or another, and we ask the peoples of our nation from all spectra to close ranks in the face of the deal,” the Hamas chief pointed out.

On June 2, Trump acknowledged that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s doubts about his so-called deal of century “may be right.”

“Look, we’re doing our best to help the Middle East to get a peace plan, and he [Pompeo] may be right. I mean, most people would say that,” Trump told reporters in Washington, DC.

He added, “But if we can get a Mid-East peace plan, that would be good. And when Mike says that, I understand when he says that, because most people think it can’t be done. I think it probably can. But as I say often, we’ll see what happens.”

Speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 16, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh lashed out at the initiative, asserting it was “born dead.”

Shtayyeh noted that negotiations with the US were useless in the wake of the country’s relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, which Palestinians consider the capital city of their future state.